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First Vacation after Coronavirus: Long Weekend in Destin and Crab Island
We just came back from an incredible long weekend with some of our closest friends. We originally planned to visit Drew’s best friend and his family, who welcomed a new baby girl in January, in March. However, with the coronavirus in full swing we decided to postpone until May. While I was super hesitant given that restrictions had just been loosened, I am very happy that we decided to go. I did not realize how much our entire family was craving some normalcy and socialization with close friends.Many of our friends in Atlanta travel to 30A for family vacations. We always go to South Carolina beaches, and never experienced the…
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Things I Learned at 32 (and wish I knew earlier!)
Life is funny, you learn things as you go and look back and wish you implemented things sooner. Today, I am sharing with you a few things that I started doing at 32 (and wish I did earlier!). If you are younger than 32, try them out and if you are older than 32 and don’t do these things—well, there is no time like the present! Things I learned at 32: Wash your face: Say what?! It literally took me until this year to regularly wash my face. Gross, but true! I have ridiculously sensitive skin and felt like washing my face irritated it more than it benefited. Well silly me,…
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Stress Relief Techniques During The Quarantine
Week four of the coronavirus quarantine and its time to find new stress relief techniques in our household. We have been indulging more on our adult beverages and running/biking to relieve stress. While the extra runs are certainly great for the body, the alcohol consumption is definitely not! After many discussions, input from others (thank you friends on social media!) and online research; I complied a list of activities that hopefully will provide joy and stress relief to others during this crazy period. List of Stress Relief Activities: Journalling: If you haven’t tried journalling now is a perfect time to preserve your memories of this crazy time and destress by…
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Becoming a Bargain Shopper: Tips to Getting a Great Deal
Who doesn’t love a good deal?! Finding a great deal isn’t about purchasing things that you don’t need (admittedly, I have purchased many things just because they are a “good deal”), rather its about knowing what you want, knowing the price you feel comfortable spending on the item and then searching and waiting for it to hit that price. This day and age, we have so much information at our fingertips that finding a great deal is so much easier and doable (if you have patience!). The state of our economy, the amount of lay offs and people taking pay cuts to help businesses stay afloat is devastating. My heart…
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Motherhood Lesson: Riding a Bike for the First Time
I write this with so much pride for my four year old: Reid rode a bike for the first time! I am beyond amazed that with very little assistance and skipping training wheels, he was able to ride a bike on his first try. All I have to say is: balance bikes are amazing!We gave Reid a balance bike when he was 2.5 years old. He took to it pretty immediately and loved going on bike rides around the neighborhood. At first he simply walked with the bike (probably for the first 6 months) and then around 3 he got the hang of it and would balance and glide along…
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Simple and Clean Toddler Indoor Activities
With the coronavirus in full swing and schools being cancelled all around the country (as well as most restaurants and playgrounds), there is more time for creative indoor activities. I love following accounts on Instagram like Busytoddler and DayswithGrey (local mom who presented to MOPS last year) who provide invaluable advice and activities for at home activities. These activities help kids learn, fight boredom and give moms (and dads) a break! With the vast amount of activities to choose from, you can quickly become overwhelmed and honestly, feel a little like a failure of a mother who has not tried many of these activities. Take it from me, I have…
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Teacher Appreciation Week Ideas
If you ever want to be more involved in your child’s school life, I urge your to volunteer to be the room parent. I was unsure and hesitant about being a room parent as I didn’t know how much of a time commitment and involved it was going to be, but I am so happy that I stepped up and am able to be more involved in my child’s school life 🙂 Being a room mom is not crazy involved, but you do lend an extra hand when needed. You pick out and buy the different gifts for birthdays, holidays and teacher appreciation week. You also help with all of…
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Getting a Toddler to Nap or Have Quiet Time
The frantic, fabulous or ferocious fours–which one is it?! A few weeks ago, in tears I was googling and reading every article I could about a child in their FOURS. I originally thought that it was the terrible twos and the three-teens, but never heard anything said about the fours. Well after doing about an hour of research, I found some evidence that the fours aren’t all peaches and cream.Let me back up and give some context of mothering my current four year old. Reid is about as good of a kid as I could imagine. I used to call him my angel baby and angel boy–he has his faults,…
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Training for a Half Marathon in 7 Weeks
I did it, I successfully ran the Atlanta Half Marathon in 1:50!! After a long 6 year hiatus from distance running, I am BACK 🙂The thing that I want to share most is my training, which is something that is COMPLETELY different than my past marathon training. Training for the Atlanta Half Marathon, I was all about showing myself grace and taking it super easy on myself which I believe paid off in the end. It is crazy to me to think that I averaged less than 8:30 minute miles, when I was training at a 10:30 pace!Here is a little breakdown of how I trained for the half marathon…
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Reid’s 4th Birthday Party at the Fire Station
I officially give all the props and credit in the world to mothers of Pinterest and event planners who plan elaborate birthday parties. It takes an incredible person to event plan and I personally would love to know how they stay sane and not stressed to the max! HA! While event planning is not in my wheelhouse, all the stress and planning was definitely worth it!! My little boy is obsessed with fire trucks–he will tell you that they are “his favorite” and that his favorite color is “red, like fire trucks.” When I asked what he wanted to do for his birthday he said he wanted to go to…